October 2011

This October is a good time for us to tend to our relationships and our resources. With the month beginning under the influence of the Libra New Moon back on the 27th of September, and a New Moon that triggered the Cardinal Climax of the T-Square of Libra planets opposed to Uranus and square to Pluto and at the same time an exact Mercury Uranus opposition; this month starts off as all things to all people with some curious twists and turns of unexpected incidents thrown in. Who could ask for more?

Welcome to life in the twenty-first century, replete with the circus barkers and the kaleidoscope of various colors and diverse situations changing continually and keeping us on our toes. What’s up? What’s down? What’s whirling all around?

October also begins with a Stellium of three or more planets in Libra with the Sun, Mercury and Saturn all in the Venus-ruled Sign of Balance and Harmony. Of course, similar to the scales that represent the Libra Sign, there are often wild swings between opposite polarities before we hit the balance point.

Although life has been anything but serene over the past months, some of us old enough to remember that great twentieth century musician Curtis Mayfield may be humming mantram-like, prayer-like, his classic song We Got To Have Peace:
We got have peace
To keep the world alive
And war to cease.

We got to have joy,
True in our hearts
With strength we can’t destroy.

People please hear us [people please hear us]
Through our voice the world knows
There’s no choice.

A little bit of peace, and quiet, would certainly be welcome and we might find it by reminding ourselves of the serenity prayer:

God grant me the serenity
To accept the things I cannot change;
Courage to change the things I can;
And wisdom to know the difference.

Whether we find peace or not, a little bit of peace and serenity are likely to be brief moments of respite from the hurly-burly times through which we are journeying. We may not always have peace, much less quiet, but let’s keep in mind that friction and dynamics allow for sudden, instantaneous and dramatic changes. Never a dull moment is likely to be had during these times of transformation and shapeshifting. Welcome to the twenty-first century.

During the early part of the month, we may be concentrating on our interactions with other people. There can be some very interesting meetings and connections made at this time. Can we say synchronicity? Could they be serendipity operating?

Yes, in deed, the early part of October could have us bumping into people we know, reconnecting with people from our past and spending quality time with those special people in our lives. Although we might yearn for quieter times, the thrill and excitement of wonderful surprises can more than make up for the challenges and the intensity of these times.

What we need to be aware of as we start this month is the propensity towards a level of dysfunctionality whereby things work easily and smoothly in the abstract but the conceptual being excruciatingly hard to realize in the practical. Communications can be off and we could experience computer problems and travel difficulties. Our insights may be especially strong, but we might have difficulty communicating our understanding to the full comprehension by other people. We could feel as though, at times, we’re locked in a long-term children’s game of telephone whereby we hear certain things being said to us and then communicate something completely at odds with what we have heard. This is a time when there can be misunderstandings and miscommunications. Even if we have to repeat something several times, gesticulate as though we were playing pictionary, or slowly annunciate syllable by syllable, it would be important for us to be as clear as possible in our communications. And we might still suffer from people not fully understanding what we are conveying.

Fortunately, despite these few monkey wrenches, the month seems quite pleasant, albeit a little indulgent with a tendency towards excess and exaggeration.

We may be primed for stretching our wings, getting involved in new and exciting projects and assuming that despite the various black swans swimming in tandem no further harm can come our way. Yes, we might be anxious at times, but we are far more interested in the prescriptions of Dr. Feelgood than in the omens of Dr. Doom.

We could be in a la-de-da mindset, oblivious to the harsh realities around us, lost in our own little world and enjoying the secure comfort zone we may have created for ourselves. We might surround ourselves with our advocates and supporters, keeping any naysayers at bay.

Feeling upbeat and expansive as we start the month and ready to put on our explorer’s trekking boots, we do have to be wary of going overboard with our expenses or our investment in new and different projects.

A tendency to skirt issues, put on blinders and focus solely on what we want and how we want it could be exacerbated around the 3rd and 4th of the month. Even if we have various blockers to our forward movement, we could easily negate the warning signs and find ways around the obstacles. Where a problem might arise is our willingness to negate any warning signals on our journey.

Those days between the 3rd and the 6th could have us starting out confident and upbeat but without checking the conditions or evaluating the circumstances. We might rush headlong into some situations that turn quickly and to our detriment and we might feel as though our confidence is like a slowly deflating balloon with the end result a sense of delay or, to the extreme, defeat and depression.

As long as we have our friends and those special people in our lives, we can slog on through some of the messes of these times.

The mid-part of the month can be especially pleasant. Our minds can meander through idyllic fields and our grasp on reality can be a hand held out to that special someone who keeps us from drifting totally away into our fantasies. Although we might want to make assumptions and buy into the burgeoning of great possibilities, a check-in with reality every now and then would prevent us from going on a bender, being indulgent and extravagant all with the belief that nothing bad will truly impact us.

The potential for euphoria can be high and highest during the first half of the month. As we move through the month, we gain more of the Scorpio energy as Venus leaves its own Sign of Libra and enters Scorpio on the 9th, followed by Mercury entering Scorpio on the 13th, and the Sun moving into Scorpio on the 23rd creating a Stellium of three or more planets in the Fixed Water Sign, and culminating in the Scorpio New Moon on the 26th. As planets move into Scorpio, a Grand Cross in the Fixed Signs is created with the Scorpio planets adversely aspected to Jupiter in Taurus, Mars in Leo and Neptune in Aquarius.

Suddenly, we may feel as though our resources are not as limitless as we might have convinced ourselves. We could become more aware that our costs of living are larger than they have been and that inflationary pressures are keeping an inflated bottom to prices with the upside of costs yet to be realized. We might also tend to stay at the party too long, putting up with frustrating conditions with a belief that soon the tide will turn in our favor. Such a belief could prove costly and detrimental.

The second half of October and even more so the latter part of October is a good time for us to make our preparations. We can be incredibly resourceful, focused on how to cut back on our expenses and diminish our need for stuff. This is a time when we can stretch our monies, virtually get blood out of a stone and work more effectively with less expenditure of energy. We may cut away some of the superfluous and extraneous from our daily living. And it would be wise for us to do so.

For as I have written over the past few months, I find it curious, even startling, that in so many people’s charts I have seen this latter part of 2011 through the winter of 2011-2012 liable to be a vexing and even challenging time for so many of us. It appears to be a time of recapitulation, of addressing our past and going over past issues. With it impacting so many people, I also wonder whether we are likely to see further deterioration on a societal level regarding the trust, faith and security in various community organizations and institutions.

We are on the threshold of a paradigm shift and many of our stable and secure support systems and social institutions may be found wanting in the days ahead. If we see elements of crash and burn during these times, it would be helpful for us to keep in mind the analogy of the mythological bird, the Phoenix, on its funereal pyre to rise from its ashes and soar ever higher. We can do the same, on an individual level and on a societal level. Despite what might be advertised, this process of shapeshifting cannot be done for us, imposed by the powers-that-be, but rather is an emaiindividual process that then radiates out into the community and society at large. These are times when the power is in the person, and the individual is the architect for society’s change. Through our own personal challenges and our individual choices, we too can rise from the ashes of our past to soar ever higher into our future.

But before we soar, we may have to go through the alchemical process of fire whereby burning off the dross, the extraneous and the no longer functional of our past. Recapitulation, with us taking our walks down Memory Lane and reconnecting with and reviewing elements of our past, can all be part of this alchemical process, which is a prelude to our own personal paradigm shift.

First, we may have to go through the crash and burn, and then rise in our own resurrection, finally to soar ever higher than anything we have experienced beforehand.

Preparation for such a time would be wise. It is essential that we keep in mind that the days ahead have little resemblance to the days we have journeyed through. We may have to leave much behind. We might feel that we do not have the skill set to cope with uncharted waters. And, in truth, we may not have the playbook for the days ahead. I would remind you of the wise and true universal law that we never get more than we can handle.

The latter part of October allows us to do our inventory taking and see what is relevant for our present and our future, and what may be outdated and no longer useful. We may have to stretch our muscles of resourcefulness in order to accept the fact that no matter what comes our way we have the capability of meeting successfully the challenges and advancing our own personal talents. In so doing, we can discover ways by which to be more effective with less expenditure of energy.

The month ends with Halloween, although many of us may have felt the past year was filled with days of tricks and other days of treats. And so it continues.
October 2011… a time to prepare and a time to discard…